Janice Branch Tracy

Adopted in Texas Janice Branch Tracy

Between 1954-1972, Homestead Maternity Home in Fort Worth, Texas, housed thousands of pregnant women of all ages, married and unmarried, who came to Fort Worth to give birth to babies they gave up for adoption through Homestead's child placement agency. Some individuals have referred to this period of time in mid-century America as the "Baby Scoop Era," and to Fort Worth, Texas, as an "Adoption Mecca." Without a doubt, the life of every woman who gave up her baby for adoption was changed forever. Author Janice Tracy interviewed nearly one hundred Homestead birth mothers, adoptees, and adoptive parents who shared with her their personal and emotional stories. In "Adopted in Texas," you will read about the Fort Worth hotel owner and the Baptist minister who started Homestead Maternity Home, the doctors who delivered the babies at local hospitals, and the social workers and lawyers who facilitated the adoptions. In addition, you will read about the difficulties adoptees and birth mothers still experience in searching for each other. These searches have been and continue to be complicated due to the alleged destruction of Homestead's records by those who operated the facility and by the maternity home's use of birth mothers' assumed names on hospital records and other official documents, including original birth certificates filed with the State of Texas. In some cases, no original birth certificates exist at all. But most of all, you will hear the truth about Homestead's maternity care and adoption practices through the voices of those who experienced the process firsthand.